International Tennis News

Batsmen did a fantastic job, but credit should go to the bowlers as well: MS Dhoni

Sydney: After some fantastic batting from Rohit Sharma (52 off 38 balls), Shikhar Dhawan (26 off 9 balls) and Virat Kohli (50 off 36 balls), Suresh Raina played a scintillating innings of 49 runs off 25 balls and Yuvraj Singh struck the ball well in the last over (a four and a six in the first two balls) to help India beat Australia in the third T20 match by seven wickets to win the series 3-0 at Sydney Cricket Ground, here on Sunday.

Happy with India’s performance in the series, Indian skipper MS Dhoni said that though the batsmen did a fantastic job, lot of credit for India’s performance should go to the bowlers. “A lot of credit to the bowlers. In the ODI series the batsmen were doing well, we needed the extra 10% from the bowlers. That has changed with Jasprit Bumrah coming in and others getting their act together. Yes, the batsmen have taken it up a notch, but it is the bowlers who have done their job better, which has made the difference. There might be one or two changes based on the conditions in the World T20, but this is roughly what our T20 side will look like.”

Meanwhile, Shane Watson, who was man-of-the-match for his astounding century, said, “They certainly are special. They showed it to us in the one-day series as well. We put up the big score, but couldn't get ourselves over the line.”“At this point of time, I am loving every minute of playing for Australia. The privilege to captain the team was great although it was a bit hectic at time. I do enjoy my batting. I blocked the ball a bit too much early, but it was a pleasure to bat. We have got the world-class players, there is no reason why we can't have a successful World T20.”

Virat Kohli, who was man-of-the-series for his fantastic batting, said “Indeed, reads sweet. We decided before Sydney one-dayer that we want to finish the tour 4-all. Just because we played so well earlier but didn't get on the board. I was disappointed when I got out because I wanted to finish the game off. I challenge myself to finish them off when I chase. The way Yuvi and Raina finished it off, credit to their character. I have said this many times that I am a big fan of Rohit.”